Folks, I just don’t know what to say

by PWSux on June 30, 2011

In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t started drinking yet today. Yet. Because I’m beginning to seriously wonder just what the fuck is going on with Ree.

She has admitted that her blog earned “solidly one million” last year — which WE all know is a drop in the bucket for what she actually earned — so even giving her the benefit of the doubt and sticking with $1 million a year, she’s earning nearly $3,000 A DAY (and let’s face it, we all KNOW she earns more but we’ll run with that figure). What does her adoring public get for that $3,000 A DAY?

Well so far this week she’s had three posts in confessions which happened like this –

A random, stoned-out-of-her-mind rambling about her fake anti-social feelings which only the most inebriated could begin to understand.

A post comparing cats & dogs using lots of old pictures of both.

A post where she tried to be “artsy” using alliteration and more old pictures.

An entry in Cooking where she actually LISTED the ingredients, recipe, directions and 23 (say it with me….. TWENTY THREE) pictures for caprese salad all while leaving out the ONE fucking crucial point – you can ONLY make this with homegrown/farmer’s market tomatoes. Do not even attempt it with orange rocks from the store.

Had a contest.

Post some strange pictures of her attic and then posted the subsequent (shocking!) emails/ideas that fans sent her.

That’s it.

So far this week, she’s conservatively earned $15,000

Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite certain she’s been busy. She’s got to get everyone up and out of the house so she can violently go back to bed.

She’s got to pick her toes. Her nose. Her va-jay-jay. All kinds of things.

She’s got to get the Lodge ready for the next set of tax write-offs guests.

Which is a shame, Badpobeep, because that is a well crafted sentence right there–I laughed out loud. You know, not AT you, but at the honesty of it in comparison to Ree’s $3,000-unbelievable-oh-my-God-you-have-to-be-fucking-kidding-me-she-spews-out-drivel a day haul.

I am wondering how fast her readers are falling off? That blog about cat vs dog was a complete and utter insult to her base. Total tripe. I think more and more fan gurls are googling their idol and finding PWS, PNW, and MW. Just look at the PWS forum. There are about 500 members.

She is so conniving. Just think how many other designers that will also encourage to send in their designs. All she will have to do is pick the one she likes the best without spending a penny. Free advertising for them, free design for her.

I agree posting that hideous design was just a trick to get some more designs to come in..another contest for the fools. And Ree makes out as usual getting the little people to pay for everything for the honor of being mentioned on her blog.

I am now firmly on the side of people who suggested that the room is already done and PW is only pretending that it hasn’t been re-done. Rechelle, I think that you are one of the people who read the writing on the newly done wall. Now this might be a stretch, but she knows her readers well and knows if she posts about remodeling a room for her daughters that she is going to get a ton of suggestions. I don’t know if she thought she would have some nut case go as far as provide sketches, but now that she has gotten a glimpse at what professionals can do. I bet she now turns it around and says that instead of the room being a DIY project that she is going to bring in some professionals to build beds, shelving units, ceiling fans, ect, but the girls and her still did the painting or something. She even alluded to this on todays post.

She can still draw out the room design as bait to reel in her readers because she can ask for suggestions on every bit of minutiae. We tried a bunch of places: on the floor, sideways next to the door, on top of the laptop, under the
bed, but the girls and I can’t figure out where to put this one throw pillow. Look at all the reader involvement with Hycthina’s room and she had an interior designer. Also I think that she posted people’s suggestions to keep up the comments because who knows maybe PW will write about your suggestion, so keep up the clicks.

Well since she suggested in that HP video in your link that if she can do it, anyone can do it, I’m going to take her up on her specific advice and start a blog where I expect to have thousands of daily readers and make at least $1 million net a year. Thank you, Ree since you’re doing all you know how to do and you’ve legally sanctioned me now doing the same based on your ideas.

Ok……..I had to look!
And I can’t believe with all the money they have that their daughters have a bedroom that looks like that! Does she just spend all her money on herself and clothes she doesn’t wear???
Thanks for this post……….I laughed out loud!! And don’t forget that in between all those extracurricular activities she has to take pictures of her husband’s butt, cows, kids and dogs because she thinks everyone wants to see them over and over again.
She seriously needs a new angle for attention, cause the old one is wearing thin.

Wow. That was some serious home printing equipment. I use a printer to get antique images from the computer for use in some of my handmade greeting cards. I probably put more time into one difficult card than PW puts into her blog some days, and trust me–the printer company isn’t offering me any sweet deals.

I don’t think people are really reading her anymore or she loses readers and gains new ones besides the extremely dumb ones or the ones that are looking to get people over to their site. Oh screw it, now I’m sounding as confusing as she writes.
As for her daughters room, I can’t even imagine how she got away with that for so long, all four kids in one big room, a 6 year old boy and a 14, almost 15 year old girl? Didn’t anyone in her family comment on the “strangeness” of that?

Um yeah, it’s all about the free giveaways. I did that once on my website (many moons ago) and realized fairly soon very few were reading my creative writing, rather just entering the free giveaways. Lesson learned.

As for Ree, I think her blog presence will become just another advertising shill website once she is on TV. Frankly, she has no concern for the readers — who are batshit crazy and think she’s their “friend. It’s all about the ads…before, now and after. She’s become nothing but a mouthpiece for advertising, disgusting.

Remember when Oprah stopped her Xmas mega-give-aways because the economy was tanking and she felt conflicted about giving away luxury items? Yeah, her ratings plummeted…so the give-aways returned with a vengeance.

Does it not rankle Ree that she is basically paying for her web friendships?

wineinmyglassJune 30, 2011 at 12:28 pm

I am quoting PW here.
“After last week’s post, I received some of the most helpful and brilliant comments, emails, and suggestions. I’m compiling some of them and will share them with you as I consider and flesh them out. Thank you to everyone who floated out your ideas…and helpful perspective.
She’s “fleshing” out ideas? Really????. Um Ree shouldn’t that be FLUSHING.
As in Flushing them down the fucking toilet. Because ugly is the only word for them.
“Thanking everyone who floated out ideas.
Floated? Did they fall out of the sky? No! You asked for ideas, and that equals more hits on your blog. $$$$$
Knock Knock Pottery Barn Calling.
Who is writing this crap?.
Maybe she should just use the designers gladilous (hycintha) did. We all know how that turned out!

I found your blog through a facebook homeschooling friend and it is hilarious!

Oddly enough, I started reading PW for the homeschool stuff, but I cannot believe that she actually homeschools any of her kids. How would she have time between writing cookbooks, children’s books, going on book tours, and blogging? I can barely blog a semi-coherent post without any pictures and I only have 2 kids that I don’t officially homeschool yet. And I don’t do any cooking that requires 400+ sticks of butter. Who the eff is raising her kids while she does all this? I call bullshit.

Something that has bugged me for a while (and maybe you can answer this) is the photo contests – once her readers submit a picture, does she own the rights or whatever to it?

And the calls for her readers to help decorate her house? Woman, you are a freaking millionaire. Hire a damned designer.

Tina, Ree has hired teachers for her kids. This still legitimately counts as homeschool (heck, if you have the money knock yourself out!) but no, she does NOT “do it all herself”. It may be possible that someone VERY energetic could manage homeschooling and doing all the blogging/tours/writing/crap she does …but t’ain’t likely. I homeschool my kids and barely manage to keep the rest of my house running!

Here, here, sherbet lemon, I homeschooled both daughters, now only one is left at home and there is no way I would have time to do any of the stuff she claims to do. You should see my laundry room. Anyone like to dig for their clothes? Most of my friends are homeschoolers and there is no freaking way any of them would have the time to or energy to do all that PW claims to do. And hiring tutors for all subjects is called private schooling, I don’t care where you do it, in the home or the cow patty field.
Did you see the picture of her “growing garden”. I hope one day, one of her working minions writes a tell all.

What is most interesting to me is when she posts “web deliciousness” … It’s just a post of photos/links of recipes from other websites. She does not put any work to it but she earns income from people who goes to her site and I bet those bloggers paid her advertising fee too for linking their blogs on her blog.

Bloggers definitely don’t pay to be included in her ‘web deliciousness’ roundups. She has actually linked to my blog before in her roundup. And as crazy as the traffic spike was, my soul is worth more than any advertising fee 😛

Food bloggers are big on community and sharing, whether that be teaching and mentoring or something less warm & fuzzy like linking via blogrolls and roundups. I’ve said it before, but I do think her roundups are her attempt at community.

She carries a lot of weight, though, because of her success. It’s disappointing to see so many bloggers pushing their own Ree Drummond model. And even scarier how many people out there who are all, “OMG! I need that pile of burnt bread, margarine, blueberries, and sour cream in mah belly now!” with every inedible recipe she publishes.

It was all over twitter back then. They apparently lifted a photo off of this girls foodblog and broadcasted it without permission sometime during the show. She tweeted Ree about it and man was she pissed.

REEhabilitatedJuly 1, 2011 at 9:10 am

Most bloggers don’t mind if their photos are used in a roundup like that – because clear credit and linkback is given to the original blogger.

Okay, this may sound like a stupid question, but how does someone earn money from a blog? Where does the money come from, and how? Advertisers? Sponsors?

How did such a boring blog even catch on the way it did? I’m Canadian, so maybe I don’t quite see things the way American folks do, but that blog is seriously b-o-r-i-n-g. Most of the folks who post comments have more interesting blogs then Ree Drummond does.

It seems that the more people find out about Ree Drummond, the less appealing her blog is to the general public. I’m also Canadian and working hard on a blog. Where are you in this grand land of ours? I live in Edmonton.

Many blogs run advertisements through third party companies like Adsense to earn revenue from their blogs, but the ones who truly take off and make any kind of money doing so are exceptionally rare. I wrote about my frustrations with it last week.

Vancouver here too! I found PW years ago through a paid link on Martha Stewart’s page. She used big money to get money from her blog.
Is the sun shining where you are Jo? We finally had some but I think it is leaving again. 🙂

I read all the comments on this post and agreed with many, but I really couldn’t get past the $3000 a day thing. Really? The woman can’t write or create an original recipe, but she’s made more today alone that I make in nearly a month teaching, for doing nothing sincere or memorable?

I want to know how much she pays the people who are teaching (and raising) her children while she’s busy being rich and famous. I bet she spends more on clothes than she does on their educations.

Right. $3000/day and now she wants free help with that “long room”. Yah, WHAT?! I agree with Tina who said, “Hire a damned designer.”
In addition to this did anyone else notice that the difference between dogs and cats (referring to the nitwit’s post the other day) should be like, hello…obvious? One is a *cat* which is a *feline* and one is a *dog* which is a *canine*. There’s your difference PW Pinhead.
For the record, I can’t believe I’ve stooped to calling people names but God Almighty I loathe a deceitful person. Now I need a drink.

But yeah. I had heard rumblings of there being non-PW fans out there over the past few months but I had never run across any actual sites dedicated to it. Then I found the motherload, all of the sites, blog posts, and misc. of people who knew the real story.

I was surprised — but not too surprised at the real Ree. It was one of those situations where you can’t believe you believed such a load of crap for so long. Thank you for ‘keeping it real’ as Ree would say. 🙂

Ali,
I wasn’t aware of any “rumblings” (and am not surprised) but I happened to follow a smart ass Twitter remark posted, which I was in total agreement with – I think it was about her putting up a stinkin fence to keep animals out of her garden. Anyway it led me here. A tiny bit more REAL. Love it.

I HAD to leave a response to that. It’s bullshit, b/c now in a few weeks she’ll have their brand plastered all over her site, new ‘confessions’ about installing a FLOR, and a giveaway! The rich get richer…

“Miriam,” the author of that post on FLOR claims to ‘just be a mom who loves to write and loves design.” Surely her talents (!) as a writer are not going without some sort of compensation.
Miriam – your nose is growing and your pants are on fire.

I guess I can’t quite get into ‘flor’ it looks like what us ‘budget’ people used to carpet our floors with during our spool table and concrete block shelves era, carpet sample squares…and what a price on those devils…

‘Flor’ really does remind me of those carpet remnant squares we used when we were first married and in the military. I guess when the wealthy ones discover ‘budget people’ things, those items become fashionable and expensive.

I also find it hard to believe she will actually do any grunt work. I don’t call picking out paint colors, pictures, throw pillows, bedspreads, etc. work. But that’s just me.

Oh my fricking God! I am so damn sick of the term “haters”. Who the f)(& came up with that? It is so goddamn annoying! Does it not sound totally juvenile? Perhaps something a small child might even come up with? Aaaahhh drives me nuts!

That woman will do anything for publicity! I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten pregnant again to expnad her empire and draw in more Reebot suckers. Just think of the hits to her blog she would generate if she chronicled her entire pregnancy! Think of the viewers to her show it will draw? She could ask viewers about decorating the nursery, baby names, hold baby-related giveaways and suck in more sponsors…..the possibilities are almost endless! And…now that it’s posted here where we know PW, her flying monkeys and other assorted minions troll on a daily basis, who will be surprised if it happens? The only thing I think that might stop her is, at her age, the risks of having a retarded…errrr…..I mean “developmentally disabled” child are much greater. But hell…she’s never minded whoring out her brother Mike….just think what she could do with a kid!

Do not think for ONE MOMENT that she has not thought about (or even tried) getting pregnant. THAT would be the all-time high for her blog. Just think of it: 9 months of suspense and over-the-top attention and fan-gurl hysteria. Blog stats would shoot through the roof. She would have entire posts filled with sonograms, and would be tweeting from the delivery room. There would be a contest to name the baby (with a Kitchenaid mixer as a prize!)

And if everything else failed, she could order a baby online in the middle of the night, just like she did with Walter.

she already uses the ones she has, but with a baby your right that would be waaayyy over $3000 a day…. but wait what if she left it outside in a hail storm… what color chemise would she use to wonder thru the house in agnst because she forgot where she left it? oh there are so many scenarios with this idea…

Oh boy! I had no idea what goodies I’d find when I idly typed “Pioneer Woman fake” into Google. Gems like this site and Pie Near Woman.

I’m English and I don’t know buggery-bollocks all about ranching but I’d long harboured a suspicion that PW was full of shit, that the designer duds didn’t quite square with the cowpats. Anyway the relentless tooth-rotting niceness of it all was getting on my tits.

Love the July header! May I suggest a couple of sunflowers stuck in a vase with tiny American flags? Perhaps a couple of syringes filled with botox? Scissors for bang cutting? Oooh, how about some pink alien claws cradling some Anthropologie measuring cups?! Love ya!

Ohhhh, goody, goody, goody. We have the great 4th of July pictures to look forward to. I bet we get recycled fireworks pictures from last year. Since it seems everyone in Pawhuska is invited, PW Sux could pack her Maxwell Smart shoe phone and infiltrate.

I guess because:
1. I find it difficult to go through her 25 photos just find out the recipe for a 10 minute meal
and
2. I’m vegetarian.

And what ever happened to links to the winner’s blogs? Do none of them have one? Because it seems that in the past, nearly everyone of her guests had a blog & posted about their experiences at the ranch. I guess she doesn’t want the world to know what she’s truly like.

Tandoori chicken and a can of beans? Harissa crusted steak with a can of beans? This is so, so, so, so wrong.

Harissa? in the middle of Oklahoma? Coconut shrimp with Bush Beans? The recipes don’t look bad; I just don’t think everyone in the middle of no-where can get a nice jar of harissa (they make from scratch in the recipe–a pain!) or a cheap can of coconut milk in places where they have trouble stocking basil or imported parmesan. I love both harissa and coconut milk– but with beans? It’s like a bacon milkshake, or a canned tomato soup sundae eeee-yew!,

I can buy ethic ingredients pretty cheaply in my neighborhood in Philly– but I remember living in small towns in Texas and Colorado, where I would try exotic recipes without the proper ingredients, or with really expensive and probably stale versions that real ethnic cooks would turn their noses up at.

If I want to have beans, or a good hearty American meal, I’ll pull out Cheryl Jamison’s Texas Cooking or Edna Lewis’s The Taste of Country Cooking or Eula Mae Dore’s Cajun Cooking. All beautifully prepared, often heirloom, recipes, that use local ingredients (I’m not a crazy locavore, but I prefer to buy local when I can.) Even the facsimile Betty Crocker cookbook from 1950 has so much less sugar and fat than gREEd’s recipes–I think that food rationing during lowered people’s taste for sugars and fats and they hadn’t invented much convenience food.

But this contest is REEdiculous: freakin’ food fads next to a canned version of a real food. (Sorry for the rant–I just think that “trendsetters” like Ree, who interested me for her particular brand of Americana should be ashamed. Expensive, faddish, fake and combined with a palate of lead–that’s our Ree.
Sorry about the rant.

I think there’s an Ethiopian restaurant in Oklahoma City and there’s probably one in Norman, but outside of those, probably not.

Indy GalJuly 2, 2011 at 10:15 am

Those foods don’t go together. There’s a passage in the introduction to Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s The Italian Country Table where she talks about nostrano, campanilismo, and si sposa,. Essentially, “what grows together goes together.”

I’m originally from a small city and North African foods were unavailable.

One doesn’t need a wide variety of hard-to-find ingredients to be a good cook. The last few years I’ve purposely limited what I keep on hand and cook. Like Kristina, I’m not a crazy locovore, but I buy local when I can. I have less variety in my pantry, refrigerator and freezer than ever before and I’m turn out a wide variety of dishes. I’m not bored and everything tastes great.

I had much the same reaction as the rest of you. I have nothing against beans and know how to make good baked beans from scratch. (I will say that for canned beans, the Bush Grillin’ beans are quite tasty.) I love shrimp, but the very idea of serving beans and shrimp together seems gross! The contest winners should have been people who used the beans with the kind of All American casual foods they go with, not pretentious people who were trying to impress the judges with how much they knew about exotic food.

Give me some English baked beans (like the vegetarian beans in the US) on a piece of toast with marmite and butter and a cup of tea with milk and I am very happy. Baked beans are ubiquitous here and little kids love them with everything. They are also good with a Cornish pasty.

Marmite is a yeast extract spread. A British classic. It’s salty and a by-product of the brewing industry. It can be an acquired taste though. I don’t eat it religiously like some people do (or the way Australians eat Vegemite) but like it as an accent. Nigella Lawson has a recipe for Marmite spaghetti which is delicious imho. I like mine with spelt pasta. Even people who don’t like Marmite tend to like the pasta version because the Marmite is diluted by being mixed with melted butter.

They sell Marmite and Vegemite in my grocery store, but I must say, I have never been tempted to try them. I always thought it would be something you would acquire a taste for during childhood.

CatherineJuly 9, 2011 at 11:58 am

I didn’t grow up in the UK and so didn’t acquire a taste for Marmite that way. I was born in the USA. I still don’t slather or spread it on my toast the way some British people do. Only recently discovered the Marmite pasta and the using it as an accent on toast with beans or grilled/fried tomatoes in olive oil. Can add cheese to the pasta.

CatherineJuly 9, 2011 at 6:51 pm

Melted butter! Ree, are you reading? Here is a recipe for you! Emulate Nigella Lawson – way to go!

poppyJuly 2, 2011 at 11:38 am

Ugh. I watched all four videos. Guess what? They weren’t about Bush’s Grillin’ Beans. They were all about Ree. Did you know Ree is just a normal woman just like the rest of us? News to me! I’m not sold, BlogHer. No matter how much overtime PR puts in, there is no way you can sell this woman as witty, everyday, hard-working, or sassy. She has become a grotesque caricature of herself.

Welcome alison!
Though I’ve only been here about a week I just had to say, “look guys here’s another one.” I wonder if the “ree powers that be” are cluing in yet? People are on to you Ree Drummond. More and more every day.

This is from Mark Bittman in today’s NYT. Seems quite applicable to Ree:
Not long ago, cooking was a common topic. Weekly food sections of newspapers were filled with it. Churches self-published cookbooks by the pile. There were even real cooking shows and cookbooks.

Now, if it weren’t for the vibrant but dwindling community of bloggers, we’d hardly see actual cooking discussed at all. There are but a fraction of the food pages there once were in newspapers, and most cookbooks are offshoots of TV “cooking” shows, almost all of which are game shows, reality television shows or shows about celebrities.

“Tap, tap. Is this thing on?” Can you hear us Ree? You had a good thing started but you weren’t honest. It was all about marketing yourself from the get-go wasn’t it? Putting your “brand” on the ranch in your way. Your words. I don’t even pull up your site anymore Ree and I’m telling everyone I know that you’ve been not telling the whole truth and the whole PW thing essentially a crock of crap. I could have respected you if you would have said you cooked up this whole idea as a way to save your husbands cattle ranch when the market was kinda scary a few years back (or for some other reason)…but now? Sorry. I don’t like being made a fool of and you fooled me for a while. I tried to explain some things away that didn’t make sense to me at the time, like brand new $50,000 rigs – yes plural – I know what I’m looking at when I see your pictures, new very spendy clothes and spendy clothes never worn, saying YOU home-school your kids but YOU clearly don’t someone else does, chopping ice when any “idiot” (btw, I don’t think Ladd is an idiot) would put in a small windmill to keep the water moving hence keeping it from freezing (we have one) but you know maybe there isn’t enough wind in Oklahoma or maybe the money needs to go towards butter? There’s at least 1.2 million other inconsistencies and I better stop before I blow a gasket – Can you see I’m still working through my anger here?!

You came to the right place to release your PW anger. Soon, you will move on to recognizing the absurdity of Ree’s grandiose claims and contrived stupidity. If you’d like to get there faster, visit the Pie Near Woman website. I laughed and laughed, Help me Rhonda…forget I said that…where are we again?

One correction, Ladd is an idiot. He doesn’t take care of his horses nor teaches his children how. He’s a staunch Reich Wing Republican who gets millions and millions of dollars in subsidies from the gov’t for the crops HE USES HIMSELF

{Sorry, damn machine sent before I was finished}
re:Ladd is an idiot
…and for the mustangs he lets live on his land. Ladd has the rich boys attitude that everything is expendable, including his horses and dogs. He also has the rich boy idea that his children MUST learn things the “hard way” unnecessarily. He gets the kids up before dawn, puts them into dangerous situations, and lets Ree photograph everything so we can see what a real family from the USA is supposed to be about.

Ladd supports Ree’s idea that public schools are BAD for his babies, but of course his careless teachings on the farm has resulted in him risking the lives and health of those kids and his animals.

Don’t let Ree’s beloved off the hook so easily. I think he sees this whole phenomena as a way to show us how US Americans how they are supposed to live! According to Jesus and Ladd’s homeschooling version of the founding fathers!

That’s the only reason I can imagine he puts up with Ree’s bullshit. Silly woman, setting the gender stereotypes in stone, blithering idiot, I betcha Ladd thinks that the division of labour they represent (falsely) is exactly how god intended it.

Thank you, d, for clarifying something I had suspected. We seem to have a lot of those kind of Republicans these days, taking tons of money from the government, but when the little people need something from the government to survive, it is being reclassified as welfare. They are trying to rip away the social contract we ordinary people counted on our whole working lives. Suddenly these extremists are calling the programs we paid in to for decades “welfare.”

Julie, I agree with you about the DR./Senator, but this will amaze you. In one of the links published here some where, on the site of an OK TV station that was investigating the amount of money being paid to Oklahomans in farm subsidies and such, they played a clip of Coburn in full rant about it and saying we shouldn’t be keeping more wild horses than we could afford and it was too much money, etc. I don’t agree with him that we should kill the horses, but I was surprised and pleased that he was worried about the amount of money.

Their buddy the senator, is only a state senator from Oklahoma City. Connell Branen makes it think that her husband is a US Senator. Something must be in that USC water that makes people think they are better than everyone else, wait, it IS the University of Spoiled Children.

I was NOT agreeing with Julie that the person she mentioned should be hit by a bus, only agreeing with her that I usually strongly disagree with him, and informing her that, at least once, he had taken sides against the wealthy Drummonds. Do I have to have my posts checked first by a lawyer? Help me Ronda.

JulieJuly 7, 2011 at 2:03 am

um, my bad. apparently, my snark didn’t translate. i don’t wish the senator any ill-will, but i would like to know why he keeps getting re-elected when he seems to be out to fuck most of his constituents sideways.

again, my apologies if i offended anyone.

EJSJuly 2, 2011 at 4:05 pm

Been there done that! I believe “anger” is step 2 in the 12 step process….you are in great company here!! I too made her a shit-ton of money before I woke up!

Well said D, my family lives urban so it would be nice for someone to spell out the inconsistencies of her portrayal of ranch life. I remember someone saying that by Ladd and his family creating ponds on their property, they were essentially bottling up the water to farmers south of their property. How does that work? I was only hooked for about three months but because I homeschool I begin to see omissions and half-truths about how much time she had and what she actually did. For a teeny, tiny, teeny while there she made me feel bad about myself until I found PWSux and then I had to slap myself. I’m a smart woman and most of my friends are homeschoolers. There is no way any of us, and I’m one of the more laid back ones, could accomplish what she seems to.

There are others who can surely explain it better, but until they post, here’s the way I understand it. The Drummonds live on land they bought from the Osage, but the Osage sold only the surface rights. If the Drummonds drill a bunch of wells to get water to keep stock tanks filled for the cattle, they would have to pay the Osage for the water.

So they build huge ponds and things to catch as much of the water that runs across their property during heavy rains as possible. Water that would naturally keep moving and be dispersed over a larger area. This forces small ranchers to have to go to the expense of drilling wells. It is a hardship for them, but would not be so for the Drummonds. Water rights and grazing rights are an old argument in the American west.

d, you are in good company. It’s like that for all of when we start realizing how duped we’ve been by Ree The Deceiver. (just go and read soem of my comments on older posts. I was REEling from anger adn felt used and wool pulled over my eyes). Now she is so transparent, but back at the beginning she truly wasn’t .

I actually don’t care if Ladd is a Reich Republican or if he channels John Edwards, a democrat. (As MW pointed out in a Reecent post, Ree does seem to have a bit of a dated fixation on that disgraced pol.)

We are all here because, for some Reeson or another, because we were attracted by the Ree brand, before we discovered that it was as fake as Charlie Sheen’s “lovableness.”

I wonder what the exact commonalities are; I wonder if we could maybe get together (because we know a single person can’t do it without an entourage) and really “keep it real.”

Kristina, I’m sorry if you were offended. I just responded honestly to a comment. I agree this should not be a political site, but you cannot prevent it coming up from time to time. Politics, who is in control and what their agenda is, has a direct impact on every aspect of our lives, even the extent to which the internet stays equally available to all.

No worries… I wasn’t offended by you, I just wanted to circumvent any sheeples who might decide that we hate Ree for the good American/Republican/Christian values she represents (not).

Of course that’s not why. We satirize her because she is a cheatin’ lyin’ fraud. If they support ugly political figures of either party, that’s just a part of their phony “brand.”
Hypocrisy can run through more of a person’s life than the butter she melts or the calf nuts she photographs.

Kristina, part of falseness of Ree is the hidden agenda…which isn’t so hidden actually. Politics might be distasteful to you, I understand that. But it isn’t distasteful to the Drummonds and the other people who know how to use their money and position to abuse the system while you ignore it.

I have asked myself why-in-the-name-of-all-that-is-holy does Ladd put up with his wife making an absolute fool out of herself and her family on a daily basis. This question of mine segues into another, why did Ree not ask her cabal of jesusy Reebots to simmer down when they attacked Mrs. G and her children through the Internet and at her home?

They are building an audience, one that can be relied on to vote/visit/spend money exactly according to the messages on PW. First, you can’t piss that audience off. Second, you have to prove, on a daily basis, that you are just like them if not a little stupider and more pathetic. Third, you have to throw goodies at them.

The disconnect we see between Pioneer Woman and the actual Drummonds can’t be ignored. Why would they agree to allow their family to be so trivialized and made so saccharine, so unreal?

I suspect they are furthering the agenda that allows people like Michelle Bachman to be stupid bitches and still get elected to gov’t positions – oh she’s just like us! Even a bit worse! Ain’t that cute? So what if Ree is grossly consumerist and materialistic, aren’t we all (though she’s a little worse, right?)

Are you completely comfortable that the Drummonds put up this front of generosity and intrinsic US wholesomeness while they are accepting millions and millions in gov’t funds? Shit, give me millions of dollars of tax payer money and I’ll tell lies all day long too! Except for one lie – I wouldn’t pretend that my wealth is any different from welfare or that because I’m getting millions, not just food stamps, that makes me a better person.

Wow, I must be in communication zombie-land; I wasn’t offended by Paula, and I agree with you almost completely, Kate.
It’s just that it’s easier to fight the phony branding–if people see through that, they’ll see through the connections with the bigger stuff. I know smart ethical republicans, I know sleazy dems–the problem isn’t the political labels, it’s the utter corruption of the phoniness.

Once we tag Ree as a plagiarist, a liar, a Marie Antionette in a shepherdess dress playing poor little commoner–she stops being a Trojan horse for unethical politicians shilling fauz Americana. (Too many metaphors, there, but I hope you see what I mean?)
Anyway, enough procrastination: I have papers to grade. Middle school summer campers learning–I do not lie– alliteration and its uses. It must have fried my brain.,

I started looking at her site when my niece (who lives in a western state, has become a born again Christian who sends her kids to a “Christian” school etc etc but who is really a lovely person and why not as it takes all kinds to make this world go round) started posting stuff about the recipes. I went and looked and it seemed ok. I made the cinnamon rolls and my family liked them. But, I used a reworked version that I found on another blog devoted to cooking.

Actually, if you go back and can read some of the original posts, there is a freshness about them that is not bad – certainly not exceptional but there was a spice to them and realness. She does care about her brother Mike and it is extremely unfortunate that she used the “R” word but in the beginning she was really talking about a serious problem – how families manage to cope who have a member with developmental disabilities. She has not talked a lot about Mike recently. She’s also going to have to stop talking about #1 daughter less because she’s a teen and wants to grow up more privately. She probably did start this because she was lonely and homeschooling. But, has she morphed and it’s not pretty. She’s sold her soul and it is all out there for anyone to see. Once her “baby” gets a little older, what will she have to talk about – that’s one of her big challenges.

I agree with those who say she cannot be doing the homeschooling herself – just no way. She’s not even interested in it because she never blogs about it. Occasionally, if she is asked about what curriculum she uses, she waffles the answer but you never really know what she is doing. All you see are posts about markers or stickers or pond research. If you are starting to have your kids get headed to the high school age, you better put your head down and really work on curriculum and how this is going down or your child will be left out. She’s smart enough to know that and that’s why I think she has hired someone. Also, how do these kids do the work when they get home after all the rounding up that they do?

Also, have you noticed that people who blog who are really passionate about cooking or other topic – that’s all they blog about. They don’t have all these sub-categories unless all they care about is developing another way to make money. Sure, they like the money and it takes time and they should be compensated if they are good and have visitors and are sponsored. But the truly good ones – passion about the topic is what it is all about. She was passionate in the beginning but I don’t sense it now. It’s a job. She wants to hire out what she can.

She’s full of *!@** but hey, it’s America and there’s a herd mentality around her and her followers can’t give up what they think she is even when the evidence indicates that she’s no longer what they thought she might be. Lot’s of politicians out there like that too.

Anyone know anyway to take a peek at her site without going on there so that the meter/counter or whatever it is that her sponsors use to figure out how much to pay her does not count?

She publishes full-feed so you can subscribe if you want to see what she puts out. Google Reader pulls, at most, the last 10 posts. Simply subscribing and viewing her feed in a reader does not count as a pageview/impression and does not result in any $ earned.

No one, that was my thought as well! Who in the hell loads up on all that starch, fat & extra calories in the weeks before a wedding? She must have no worries about her dress (or Music Man’s tux) fitting.

I do not understand some of these women. They write on their blogs how they want to become really good cooks FOR their husbandsboyfriends/fiances. WTF? Have we returned to the 1950s? Do these women not share chores at home? Maybe they do and they do not write about it on their blogs. However, I have now seen several young female bloggers, some of whom also work full time, write about cooking as their responsibility and how they really want to be a great cook to please their man. I think that is bullshit. Become a great cook because you love to cook and it makes you happy….

Just because they are doing all the cooking doesn’t mean they aren’t getting any help. I have always done all the cooking and enjoy pleasing my husband. But when we were both working, he would do the dishes all weekend so I could have that time to read or whatever I wanted. When he retired, he volunteered to do the dishes and grocery shopping nearly all the time.

And he almost always says how good something looks when he comes to the table and thanks me for a good meal when we’re finished. He doesn’t take it for granted.

I am not sure I conveyed my thoughts well. Living in a township in South Africa, where women are quite obviously subservient to men, and visiting my boyfriend’s family in a southern state, where his mom and sister jump up from the table to fulfill every need of the males sitting around the table, I guess I am a bit sensitive to gender dynamics and stereotypes. If a woman enjoys cooking for her husband/boyfriend/fiance/life partner, awesome…. But, reading some of these blogs written by young women, in which they articulate that they feel like they need to become a good cook to please their “man”, makes me wonder if they really enjoy it or if it is some antiquated, stereotypical expectation.

I surely did not take offense, skattebol. I am probably older and more traditional than you. I guess you could say we have a traditional marriage , but with modern sensibilities. We both truly loved the more gracious lifestyle during times when I was able to be a full time homemaker, yet I never hesitated to help earn the money when needed, and enjoyed many of my jobs and tried to do them well. Despite fairly traditional gender roles, we have always considered ourselves a team and willing to help the other. I help with the yard work, the same as he helps with dishes and shopping. We each pamper the other, just about different things. I may be “guilty” of waiting on him at table a lot, but he brings me my first cup of coffee in bed nearly every morning of the world. If we both show caring and consideration, there’s no need to keep score or worry about who does what.

Indy GalJuly 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm

My guess is that it has more to do with religious beliefs than anything else. Shades of The Total Woman.

angelaJuly 3, 2011 at 12:19 pm

no kidding. you can still be a good wife/mom/woman without resorting to the 1950s ideal. my fiance does most of the cooking because he likes to; i do almost all of the cleaning because i like to.

I really don’t think we should bash the girl for her wanting to wait for marriage before she has sex.. I mean really????? With all the STD’s, unwanted pregnancies and other situations that are caused by being sexually active, I can’t fault her for her decision.
I’ve been seeing ALOT of judgement posts on here lately. Remember, this is a free country and everyone has their own way of living, raising kids and religion.
I feel like this has gotten to be a “bash everyone that doesn’t do things the way I think they should” site. We are all coming from different places here and our common thread is exposing Ree and her dishonesty.
There are MANY things that are posted on here that I totally disagree with, but I don’t comment, b/c it isn’t my place to come down on anyone that doesn’t believe or do things the way I do.
Please let’s be respectful of others!
🙂
Thanks!

After skimming a few posts in this poor, misguided girl’s blog, you can see that she is precisely the target audience Ree is going after. Radical Christian, naive about the world (believes selfish lust is “straight from the pit of hell” … um … also known as the biological imperative that males of all species possess. Not saying that men don’t whisper the sweet nothings for personal gain, but, this is not necessarily demonic behavior).

Poor gal, not an original idea, it’s already been done by that other freak StrawberryCake who cooked through her whole cookbook and even was a visitor to the lodge. A long time ago but I remember thinking WTF…really?

I can’t imagine cooking every single recipe in ANYBODY’S cookbook. That’s not the way I use cook books. Good grief, I started really teaching myself how to cook on a daily basis out of the Betty Crocker Dinner for Two cookbook in 1973, and I haven’t made every single recipe in there, and never will.

I still have it. I love it for the old illustrations and the time it represents. Are you familiar with the vegetarian cookbooks of Crescent Dragonwagon? She lived in my part of the country for many years and I love her books and her style of writing.

Oh Paula, I love you for mentioning Betty Crocker’s Cooking For Two! When I got married (back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, children) that was my little cooking bible. I still have it somewhere, splattered with evidence of its hard use – now I’ll have to find it and reminisce.

Yes, I have a Crescent Dragonwagon book too! You and I must be related. 😉

She appears more obsessed in this post than the other one, if that is possible. How is it that she made ALL the recipes in the book and they ALL turned out fine? Nearly everyone on here is a cook and nearly everyone has reported a serious flop from one of Ree’s ding dong recipes.

depends on your definition of fine really. some people think a diet of fast food is ‘fine’. she cooked not even a recipe a day, should go up a jeans size and may havr psychological ussues brewing. i think this is our straw poll

Holy shit… and just when I think I’ve seen it all, I realize I’m setting myself up. Ree’s outdone herself this time and now I know. For their 4rth of July celebration, they are having Ladd’s grandma’s “escalloped cabbage” (recipe included). Cabbage + cheese whiz + cream of something soup + jalapenos. Is this food? Seriously?

I don’t know if the comments on that recipe have been sanitized, but I remember quite a few of the sheeple being critical of that one. I remember quite a few recipes that relied heavily on cream of something soup and cheez whiz. And I remember making a few of them, too.

Helen, I would never get rid of my beloved first cookbook. And you know, it had a lot of good advice about stocking a pantry and planning ahead with “planned overs.” We used to vacation a lot in the little Ozarks town where Dragonwagon lived for many years before she went back to NY after her husband was killed. And yes, from your screen personality, I think we must be related.

I love Crescent Dragonwagon!! She is a truly authentic person and someone like Ree isn’t fit to lick her boots. Even though she’s a well-known published author, she takes the time to help newbies like me. One day, after becoming overwhelmed by writer’s block, I reached out to her via twitter. She responded immediately with words of encouragement and sent me a facebook friend invite. She continues to give me advice and support almost two years later, and because of her, I found the courage to finish my cookbook that will be published this fall. Crescent totally rocks! I have yet to see much evidence of PW willingly giving of herself in that way.

That’s right Paula. She changed it back in the 60’s when she realized her given name (Ellen) meant “Queen” and because she was anti-authoritarian she chose a new name. She was also getting married and didn’t believe a woman had to take the man’s last name so she and her husband-to-be decided to make up a frivolous last name…so they chose Dragonwagon. Here’s a link to the whole story. http://crescentdragonwagon.typepad.com/nothing_is_wasted_crescen/is-that-your-real-name-.html

Mary BethJuly 6, 2011 at 2:59 am

Ladies, thank you so much for the info on Crescent Dragonlady. At first, because of the name, I thought you all were pulling my leg or pranking me so I Googled her name and found her website. What a lovely surprise and an interesting biography. I am looking forward to checking out her cookbooks the next time I’m at the bookstore.

Mary Beth, what a hoot that you thought we were making it up. My oldest Dragonwagon cookbook is “The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook” and it gives such a sense of what the little Ozark town was like back when she wrote it. The illustrations are by a friend of mine. I also have her soup and bread book, and her huge vegetarian one. But she is a talented and interesting character. You will enjoy the books.

Congrats Penny!! I agree with you and when PW does lend herself its always in a self promoting way. Not for the good of another or for something. When you are ready let us know the title (unless I missed it) so we may indulge with you on the upcoming best seller!!! Again, congrats!!

I think she is sick and tired of her blog and only does it at all because of the money. Today’s sounds ghost written and she only added a few edits toward the end. I noticed Georgia Pellegrini contributes a lot of her Tasty Kitchen recipes and she has a “prep neck” blog of her own where she takes forays into the country and then returns to her preppy life. She has been a guest blogger before and I think she is more behind the scenes writing the confessions more often than not. I would love to know if someone else notices a certain similarity in style of writing since they are both “pioneers”.

I’m sorry…is that “knowing” another person…or “knocking” another person?

Because either way, yes, we do “know” Ree for who she is and yes, she deserves to be “knocked” for being such a hypocrite. Most of the comments on this site aren’t knocking her for the sake of being nasty. (albeit, there are a few) The large majority of us have real evidence that she is a great big phoney. For example, she stole – yes, STOLE – one of my recipes that I sent to her when I was a Reebot. [hangs head in shame] That’s not trash-talking, that’s fact.

Do you have a hobby Lisa? Do you have a TV show that you try & make time to catch? Do you have a best friend that you spend a few minutes a week on the phone with? A book that you read? That’s kind of what this site is for me hon. WHEN I have a few minutes I spend it posting a rant or two about PW or creating a forum or formatting a guest post. When I DON’T have time (like this week) then I live my life and come here when life slows up a bit.

Question for all or maybe if PWS has time for a post? Why is Ree the darling of the Christians? Because she home schools? I don’t read her blog any longer and didn’t read too much of it before but I never got the impression of her as a religious woman dedicated to a simple Christ centered life. Just curious why so many of her followers see her as an example of Christian womanhood? I know many bloggers who are dedicated Christians and their blogs are reflections of their faith. Some great writing out there on the internet from all walks of life but I don’t find it at PW.

I’m a dedicated Episcopal (Ree’s supposed denomination) and she’s certainly no darling of mine. In fact, when I learned she was Episcopal, I cringed. Sure, we are a Catholic derivative (don’t everyone panic all at once), but we are a very open-minded, accepting bunch. My husband is prior Army so we’ve attended 8 Episcopal churches in the past 15 years and none would put up with the “holier-than-thou” attitude that she’s dishing out.

I think it’s because she’s subservient to her husband and lives a seemingly normal life out in no mans land without the evils of materialistic things around her. The sheeples can overlook the knives and pots because they can easily get the Walmart version. The sheeples can can say her accumulation of wealth is because she is blessed (with a rich husband & good pr).

I’m a preacher’s wife. I don’t know any Christian that would put up with a holier than thou attitude, Christians are NOT perfect (yes, this is something my husband preaches on a good bit). As far as the wealth goes, well I don’t know anyone that would say she was blessed by her man, blah, blah, blah. They are very rich, most people can’t afford to live like they do and Christians are to know better than to wave it around for everyone to see. Showing off just isn’t the thing to do and Ree does a lot of showing off.

I know a lot of Christians that think Ree if full of herself. I don’t really see any Christian values expressed by Ree in any way. I guess I’m saying not all Christians think Ree is the best thing since sliced bread.

no one,
What you said, “I don’t really see any Christian values expressed by Ree in any way. I guess I’m saying not all Christians think Ree is the best thing since sliced bread.” I *completely* agree with!

I think Ree is obviously pandering to the Xtian crowd when she name-drops Jesus or God or posts a prayer. She wants them to think she is one of them, they hang in the same circles.

It’s funny how for the longest time Ree never spoke of religion at all. Mostly, she seemed to worship the idea that she could escape the ranch and get Starbucks, a pedicure and a ritzy shopping spree. That’s closer to the REEally REEal Ree, I figure, the one who at the first sign of labor had to put on full make-up and style her hair before delivering her child.

Ree reminds me of so many wannabees (like a certain SIL I might have.) She thinks that the surface is all that is necessary. She thinks it’s perfectly fine to fake identities at will. In fact, she probably believes that’s what everyone does since her awareness of others is distinctly 1D.

If she looks like a good Xtian, she will be a good Xtian. If she dresses and thinks like those Real Housewives icons, she will most certainly be THE Real Housewife of Pawhuska! And both of these identities will garner her an audience of people who feel the same way – no challenge to being a Xtian, just kinda act like one and judge others harshly for not donning the same mask.

PW’ s Fourth of July post is just chock full of gems isn’t it?
“Monday morning, Marlboro Man, our boys, Pesky Tim, and his boy went to The Wal Martz with my violent list of needs.”
Someone please tell me WTF is a “violent list”??

Here’s another not-so-surprising gem:
“Here’s what I don’t like: schlepping. It’s one of my least favorite activities on earth. He who schleps for me will have my undying devotion.”
After all….it IS all about enabling Ree isn’t it?

And once again we have a gem about her “pathological” fears:
“Yes, I communicate via text with our minister. I realize this is weird. But I have a pathological fear of talking on the phone and I have to be me.”

And last….we have her supposed fear of public speaking:
““Heck no! I have a fear of public speaking, Pastor Ken. You know that. Those children scare the bejeezus out of me!!!!”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but for someone who is supposed to be so afraid of public speaking, Ree Drummond sure does her best to draw attention to herself. And she sure is on tv a lot…and those pesky book tours must be absolute torture. Poor dear!

If she has a “pathological” fear of talking on the phone, why did she always whine about Mike never calling or never answering her calls or some crap like that? If you really, really hate talking on the phone, you don’t even want to talk on the phone to your family. It’s like my aversion to texting. I don’t even text my friends or family, even though they try to text me.

And poor Ree, having to overcome her fear of public speaking every damn time she goes on a book tour. You know, there were successful authors who never did book tours. J.D Salinger comes to mind. But then, he could actually write. Ree wants us to think of her as a reclusive hermit, and that’s why she’s “happy” on the ranch.

And I have no idea what a “violent list of needs” would be. Does she mean it was so long that it would have made a normal person go insane? Or were her needs violent (i.e. fireworks)? I’m lost.

Help me Rhonda – I had to comment. Been lurking about here. I used to be a Reebot, and even stood in line for three hours to see her. It was shortly after that I saw the light. I won’t elaborate – but I haven’t been reading her blog for over a year now – I got so sick of that damn dog. I just went back to it today – just to see what was going on – and honest to Pete – I don’t really think that is her writing anymore. I couldn’t get through the first paragraph – it read like a mass Christmas letter mailing. Love your blog –

Two ?’s if anyone can help w/the answers….1.) Does anyone know why she stopped putting that “plowing thru life blah blah one calf nut blah blah” under her heading? and 2.) Would someone explain to me what happened when Rechelle, whom I believe is PieNearWoman, went to Ree’s for the weekend and how did that all come about? I’m not sure I have my info. right, so correct me if I’m wrong….I wasn’t sure if the story was correct….Thanks.

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Ree-isms at their best….

"I love not having to whip out annoying euphemisms like "Developmentally Disabled" or "Mentally Challenged" or "Intellectually Delayed." As a blood relative of a retarded person, I'm automatically exempt. I get to say retarded. Retarded." ~Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

“…I have to admit, I sometimes like using the “r” word just to watch people squirm. Sometimes when I’m feeling particularly ornery, if someone in a conversation casually says, “retard” or “retarded”, I put on a dejected face and say, “Um, my brother is retarded. I don’t appreciate that.” I can usually last about 3.2 seconds through the look of terror on their face before I burst out laughing.” ~Ree Drummond, The Pioneer woman